Zimmer on Moritz Boehringer: 'Feel-good story is over'

By Dan Hanzus

End Around Writer

Published:
May 6, 2016 at 07:06 p.m.

Updated:
May 7, 2016 at 05:04 p.m.

Moritz Boehringer will probably have mixed feelings when looks back on his first NFL practice.

The German wide receiver -- selected in the sixth round of last week's draft -- got sick several times in the unseasonable Minnesota heat at Minnesota Vikings rookie camp on Friday, according to ESPN.com. Temperatures soared over 90 degrees, causing a literal shock to Boehringer's system.

Welcome to the NFL, kid.

When Boehringer wasn't doubled over, he was making strong first impressions with coach Mike Zimmer.

"(I'm) just kind of watching how he learns, how he moves," Zimmer said, via the Vikings' official site. "From what I saw today, he's a pretty good athlete. Obviously he's going to have to learn -- the biggest thing for these guys is learning terminology. That's hard right from the start, but that's not any different from him or anybody else. I evaluate him the same way and just look at him and watch (his) athletic skills -- the way he catches the ball, the way he runs routes."

Last week, Boehringer became the first European league player to be drafted straight into the NFL. Zimmer concedes it's a great story, but said Boehringer must now separate himself in other ways.

"I want to kind of end the story, to be honest with you," he said. "I want him to be here playing football and not being a celebrity. I've given him a hard time already about being on TV shows and stuff like that. It's football now, and it's time to work. The feel-good story is over."

The Vikings aren't exactly loaded at wide receiver, so there should be a reasonable path to the final roster if Boehringer can acclimate himself to the NFL. That's a huge challenge, of course, and one that will make "Silence" one of football's more intriguing players to follow this summer.